Tag Archives: moon

1918 Moon 6-45 Cloverleaf Roadster

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Hershey, Pennsylvania | October 5-6, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

The Moon Motor Car Company was founded in 1905 in St. Louis, Missouri, by Joseph W. Moon. When I think of Moon cars, I always picture their touring cars and sedans from the early 1920s that featured solid rims. This little Roadster was produced during WWI.

The 1918 Moon line consisted of three models, with the 6-45 being in the middle of the range. It’s powered by a 45 horsepower, Continental straight-six engine. It was missing from their 1919 line, but reappeared in 1920 (albeit, with three more horsepower) when it was dubbed their “Victory” model. This “Cloverleaf” Roadster is so named because it seats three and looks like a three-leaf clover when viewed from above.

When new, this car cost $1,575. The current owner had it restored and the auction catalog dubs it “One of the finest Moons in existence” – which likely means it will be one of the more expensive Moons to be sold at auction. It is also one of only a handful of Moon motorcars to ever been displayed at Pebble Beach. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.

RM’s sale in St. John’s, Michigan (okay, it was actually held in Plymouth) had a bunch of really old, really cool cars. The top sale was the SJ Duesenberg we featured for $957,000. One of the stars of the show was this 1928 Cadillac Series 341-A V8 Town Sedan that was once owned by Al Capone. It is bulletproof – literally, which is way cool. It sold for $341,000.

One car I really liked was this 1924 Moon Series A Five-Passenger Touring. There’s something about solid, painted wheel rims on 1920s-era cars that I’m really drawn too. I think it’s because it looks more period-correct than any other type of wheel – wooden spokes included. This one sold for $26,400.

A few months ago we featured a 1907 Dolson Model F, which was for sale at a dealership in St. Louis for $110,000. Well, it sold at this auction for $74,250. Sometimes it pays to wait. Another car we featured, specifically for this auction, was a 1914 Detroit Electric Model 46 Cape Top Roadster. It sold for $99,000. There were a number of other “alternatively powered” vehicles at this sale. Another Detroit Electric was this 1918 Model 75 Brougham that brought $44,000.

A different type of propulsion popular in the early days of motoring was steam, and it was represented at this sale as well, by this 1911 Stanley Model 63 Toy Tonneau which sold for $165,000.

And finally, the “Rolls-Royce of fire engines,” Ahrens-Fox. They are very rare and there were two of these at this sale, the top selling one went for $198,000. It was this 1925 N-S-4 Triple Combination Pumper.